Food compositions often require modification of their physical properties in order to provide desired textures (mouth-feel), viscosities or other physical properties. A wide variety of materials have been used in the art for this purpose, including various forms of starches, natural and synthetic gums, modified cellulosic derivatives, fractions from eggs, such as egg albumin, and fractions from vegetables, such as lecithin. Thus, compositions may be, for example, thickened with cornstarch, emulsified with lecithin, stabilized with carboxymethyl cellulose and the like. Generally, some of these modifiers will be more useful in certain applications than in others. For example, lecithin is an exceptionally good emulsifier for fat systems, but it has an inferior thickening ability. On the other hand, for example, starch has an exceptional ability for thickening, but it has an inferior emulsifying ability. Similarly some of the modifiers can be utilized simply by dissolving in an aqueous solution, e.g. some of the natural and synthetic gums, while others require a cooking step, such as the starches and egg derivatives, while others require both heating and cooling steps, such as gelatins.
As a result of the differences in efficiency for providing the properties as discussed above, it is necessary that careful selection of the modifier be made in order to obtain the required modification of physical properties in a relatively efficient and convenient manner. Thus, it is necessary to handle and use a wide variety of modifiers in the production of conventional kinds of prepared food compositions. Additionally, it may be necessary to include in any one food composition more than one of the modifiers, and thus increase not only the complexity of the production methods but the cost thereof. In this latter regard, the expense of certain of these modifiers can become appreciable when they must be used in higher concentrations to obtain the desired properties.
As can be appreciated from the foregoing, there is a need in the art for inexpensive modifiers which can function to provide a variety of modified physical properties in food-grade compositions and which can achieve the modified properties in convenient and efficient manners. Of course, modifiers of this nature must be non-toxic so as to constitute a food-grade modifier.